- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
All seminars will take place on Wednesdays from 4:10 to 5 p.m. from Sept. 21 through Nov. 30 in 122 Briggs Hall. This is a change from the noon-hour sessions held in previous years. The seminars are open to all interested persons.
The schedule:
Wednesday, Sept. 21:
Rick Karban, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Climate Change and Populations of a Herbivorous Moth"
Wednesday, Oct. 5:
Meredith Cenzer, doctoral candidate, Louie Yang lab
Topic: ""Ecological and Evolutionary Interactions Between Soapberry Bugs (Jadera Haematoloma) and Their Host Plants" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Oct. 12:
Howard Ferris, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Roles of Nematodes in Soil Ecology and Soil Health"
Wednesday, Oct. 19
Justin Whitehill, postdoctoral research associate
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Topic: "Carbon Castles and the Physical Defense of Conifers Against Insect Invaders"
Wednesday, Oct. 26
Marek Borowiec, formerly of the Phil Ward lab and now with the lab of Christian Rabeling, an evolutionary biologist working on ants. The lab is located in Rochester, N.Y., but will be moving in January to Tempe, AZ in January. Borowiec received his doctorate in June from UC Davis.
Topic: "Genomic Data and the Tree of Life: Known Knowns, Known Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns of Army Ant Evolution" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 2
Sandy Olkowski, doctoral candidate, lab of Thomas Scott (now emeritus professor of entomology)
"Temporal Inconsistency of Dengue Fever Surveillance in Iquitos, Peru" (exit seminar)
Wednesday, Nov. 9
Hugh Dingle, emeritus professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and Mikah Freedman, graduate student, Center for Population Biology
Topic:"Monarchs in the Pacific: Contemporary Evolution or Local Ecology?"
Wednesday, Nov. 16 (this is rescheduled for Jan. 18)
Diane Ullman, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Thrips Salivary Glands: The Relevance of Tissue Tropism and Gene Expression to Tospovirus"
Wednesday, Nov. 30
Phil Ward, professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Topic: "Exploring the Ant Tree-of-Life"
Wednesday, Dec. 7
Francis Ratnieks, professor of apiculture, University of Sussex, United Kingdom
"How Can We Help Bees Via Research? The Sussex Plan for Honey Bee Health and Well Being."
For further information, contact:
Christian Nansen, seminar coordinator: chrnansen@ucdavis.edu
Jessica Padilla, graduate program coordinator: jespadilla@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Sept. 30
Ola Lundin
Postdoctoral scholar, Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title: Ecology and Management of Crop Pollination and Pest Control
Host: Neal Williams, associate professor
Oct. 7
Saul Cunningham
Researcher, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)
Title: Future Crop Pollination: the View from Down Under
Host: Neal Williams. associate professor
Oct. 14
Luke Alphey
Visiting Professor, University of Oxford
Title: Genetic Control of Pest Insects
Host: Diane Ullman, professor
GS3 seminar speaker, sponsored by the Storer Endowment
Oct. 21
Isgouhi Kaloshian
Professor of Nematology, Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title: Unraveling How Aphids and Associated Microbes Modulate Plant Immunity
Host: Diane Ullman, professsor
Oct. 28
Nicolas Svetec
Postdoctoral Fellow, Begun Lab, UC Davis
Title: The Adaptive Significance of Natural Genetic Variation in the DNA Damage Response of Drosophila melanogaster
Host: Joanna Chiu, assistant professor
Nov. 4
Paul Pratt
Research Entomologist, USDA
Title: Florida's Melaleuca Invasion: The End of an Error
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the department
Dec. 2 (Leigh Seminar)
Tim Paine, Tom and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Speaker
Professor of Entomology, UC Riverside
Title: Insect Invasion Biology and California Landscapes
This special event will be held in the evening: more details to be announced.
For further information, contact coordinator Diane Ullman at deullman@ucdavis.edu
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Chen, an associate project scientist, will discuss the emerald ash borer and the goldspotted oak borer and their interactions with their host plants. His talk is from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in 122 Briggs Hall.
Research entomologist Steve Seybold of the USDA's Forest Service and an affiliate of the Department of Entomology and Nematology is the host.
Chen, who holds a master's degree in applied statistics (2010) from Michigan State University, obtained his doctorate in entomology from the University of Georgia in 2007. For his dissertation research, he investigated various effects of nitrogen fertilization on tritrophic interactions among cotton plants, the beet armyworm, Spodoptera exigua, and the parasitoid, Cotesia marginiventris. The project integrated ecological, chemical, nutritional, and behavioral elements to evaluate the role of nitrogen in shaping tri-trophic interactions in cotton.
Chen carried out postdoctoral research at Michigan State University's Department of Entomology from 2008 to 2011 on the behavioral, chemical, and nutritional interactions between the invasive emerald ash borer, Agrilus planipennis, and ash trees. He relocated to UC Davis in July 2011 to lead an effort to improve trapping lures for detection of another invasive pest, the goldspotted oak borer, Agrilus auroguttatus.
In collaboration with research entomologists from the USDA Forest Service, Chen is now working to develop management options for the invasive walnut twig beetle, Pityophthorus juglandis, and polyphagous shot hole borer, Euwallacea sp.
Chen's overarching research goals are to build arthropod pest management systems that emphasize naturally occurring pest suppression agents and environmentally friendly tactics, that is, insect sex pheromones and other semiochemicals, in a holistic, ecosystem-based approach. He is also interested in studying pest population dynamics in the context of various pest management tactics, agronomic practices, and abiotic environmental factors (e.g., temperature and precipitation) with mathematical and statistical tools.
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Vaughn Walton
Associate professor and Extension entomologist
Lead investigator, Spotted Wing Drosophila Project
Oregon State University
Title: "Complexities Associated with Two Invasive Pests: Challenges and Opportunities"
Hosts: Assistant professor Joanna Chiu and distinguished professor Frank Zalom, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Surendra Dara
Strawberry and Vegetable Crops and affiliated IPM Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
Title: "Thinking Outside the Cubicle to Provide Practical Solutions to the Farmers"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Blaine Cole
Professor, University of Houston, specializing in evolution, ecology and behavior.
Title: "Colony Growth and Fitness in Harvester Ants"
Host: Marshall McMunn, graduate student, Louie Yang lab, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 29
Clifford Ohmart
Entomologist and vice president of professional services
SureHarvest, sustainable agriculture
Title: "Sustainable Agriculture: What Is Happening Out on the Farm?"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 5
Chuck Fox
Professor, University of Kentucky, specializing in ecology and evolution of life histories; insect-plant interactions; insect behavioral ecology
Title: "Inbreeding-Environment Interactions: Experimental Studies and a Meta Analysis"
Host: Jay Rosenheim, professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Louie Yang
Assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, specializing in ecology
Title: "Pulses, Phenology and Ontogeny: Towards a More Temporally Explicit Framework for Understanding Species Interactions?"
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Ray Hong
Associate professor of biology, California State University, Northridge, specializing in nematology
Title: “A Fatal Attraction: Regulation of Development and Behavior in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus by a Beetle Pheromone”
Host: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Doris Bachtrog, lab
Associate professor, UC Berkeley, specializing in evolutionary and functional genomics
Title: "Numerous Transitions of Sex Chromosomes in Diptera"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Dec. 3
To be announced
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Sawyer Fuller
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
Title: "RoboBee: Using the Engineering Toolbox to Understand the Flight Apparatus of Flying Insects"
Host: James Carey, distinguished professor of entomology
This seminar by Sawyer Brown will be remote broadcast to UC Davis.
Plans call for recording the seminars, coordinated by Professor James Carey, for later posting on the web.
![Yigen Chen will open the department's fall seminar series with a seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 1 on Yigen Chen will open the department's fall seminar series with a seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 1 on](https://ucanr.edu/blogs/entomology/blogfiles/24715.jpg)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
DAVIS--Professor Steve Nadler, coordinator of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's fall seminars, has announced the list of the department's noonhour seminars.
The seminars begin Oct. 1 and continue through Dec. 10. They will take place on Wednesdays from 12:10 to 1 p.m. in Room 122 of Briggs Hall, located off Kleiber Hall Drive, UC Davis.
The schedule as of Sept. 11:
Wednesday, Oct. 1
Yigen Chen
Associate project scientist and entomologist, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Title: "Interactions Between Two Invasive Wood-Boring Insects with Their Respective Host Plants"
Host: Steve Seybold of the USDA's Forest Service and an affiliate of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 8
Vaughn Walton
Associate professor and Extension entomologist
Lead investigator, Spotted Wing Drosophila Project
Oregon State University
Title: "Complexities Associated with Two Invasive Pests: Challenges and Opportunities"
Hosts: Assistant professor Joanna Chiu and distinguished professor Frank Zalom, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 15
Surendra Dara
Strawberry and Vegetable Crops and affiliated IPM Advisor, University of California Cooperative Extension, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties.
Title: "Thinking Outside the Cubicle to Provide Practical Solutions to the Farmers"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 22
Blaine Cole
Professor, University of Houston, specializing in evolution, ecology and behavior.
Title: "Colony Growth and Fitness in Harvester Ants"
Host: Marshall McMunn, graduate student, Louie Yang lab, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Oct. 29
Clifford Ohmart
Entomologist and vice president of professional services
SureHarvest, sustainable agriculture
Title: "Sustainable Agriculture: What Is Happening Out on the Farm?"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 5
Chuck Fox
Professor, University of Kentucky, specializing in ecology and evolution of life histories; insect-plant interactions; insect behavioral ecology
Title: "Inbreeding-Environment Interactions: Experimental Studies and a Meta Analysis"
Host: Jay Rosenheim, professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 12
Louie Yang
Assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, specializing in ecology
Title: "Pulses, Phenology and Ontogeny: Towards a More Temporally Explicit Framework for Understanding Species Interactions?"
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Ray Hong
Associate professor of biology, California State University, Northridge, specializing in nematology
Title: “A Fatal Attraction: Regulation of Development and Behavior in the Nematode Pristionchus pacificus by a Beetle Pheromone”
Host: Valerie Williamson, professor of nematology, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Doris Bachtrog, lab
Associate professor of integrative biology, UC Berkeley, specializing in evolutionary and functional genomics
Title: "Numerous Transitions of Sex Chromosomes in Diptera"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Dec. 3
No seminar
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Sawyer Fuller
Postdoctoral researcher, Harvard University
Title: "RoboBee: Using the Engineering Toolbox to Understand the Flight Apparatus of Flying Insects"
Host: James Carey, distinguished professor of entomology
This seminar is being remote broadcast to UC Davis via internet
Plans call for recording the seminars, coordinated by Professor James Carey, for later posting on the web.
Contacts:
Steve Nadler, sanadler@ucdavis.edu
Professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Jesael "Jesa" David, jcdavid@ucdavis.edu
Student Affairs Officer, Graduate Programs
Plant Pathology, Entomology and Nematology
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They are coordinated by assistant professors Brian Johnson and Joanna Chiu.
Wednesday, Oct. 2 (cancelled, due to government shutdown)
Jay Evans
Research entomologist, USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, MD
Title of talk: "Bee Disease Resistance and Colony Health"
Wednesday, Oct. 9
Rob DeSalle
Curator of entomology, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
Affiliated with AMNH Division of Invertebrate Zoology and leads a group of researchers at the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics,
Title of talk: “The Tree of Life is Dead, Long Live the Tree of Life”
Host: Joanna Chiu, assistant professor
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Sandra Gillespie
Postdoctoral researcher
Neal Williams lab
Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis
Title of talk: "Parasites and Pesticides: Indirect Effects on Pollination Service"
Wednesday, Oct. 23
Ivan Schwab
Director of Cornea and External Disease Service
Professor of Ophthalmology
Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science
UC Davis Health System, Sacramento
Title of talk: "Vision from Trilobites to Trichogammatids: How the Arthropods See"
Wednesday, Oct. 30
Robert Reiner
Post-doctoral research fellow
Thomas Scott lab and Fogarty International Center
UC Davis
Title of talk: “A Quantitative Method for Estimating Spatio-Temporal Mosquito Abundance”
Host: Thomas Scott
Wednesday, Nov. 6
Patrick Abbot
Associate professor
Department of Biological Sciences Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tenn.
Title of talk: “Cooperation and Conflict at the Plant/Insect Interface”
Host: Brian Johnson, assistant professor
Wednesday, Nov. 13
Gregory Lanzaro
Professor
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
Title of talk: "Anthropogenic Forces Drive the Breakdown of Reproductive Isolation between Incipient Species of the African Malaria Mosquito."
Wednesday, Nov. 20
Thomas and Nina Leigh Distinguished Alumni Lecture
6 to 7 p.m. in Memorial Union II. A reception from 5 to 6 p.m. will precede the seminar.
All About Thomas Leigh
Kenneth Haynes
Professor
Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
Title of talk: "Life Undercover: Behavioral Characteristics of a Stealthy Blood Feeder"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
Wednesday, Nov. 27
No speaker (Thanksgiving Week)
Wednesday, Dec. 4 (Due to midwest storms and a flight delay, his seminar will be from 4:10 to 5 p.m. instead of at 12:10)
George Heimpel
Professor and director of Graduate Studies
Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul
Title of talk: "Specificity and the Process of Biological Control Using Aphid Parasitoids"
Host: Jay Rosenheim, professor
Wednesday, Dec. 11
Gerben Messelink
Entomologist at Wageningen UR Greenhouse Horticulture, Rotterdam Area, Netherlands
Title of talk: "Generalist Predators and Biological Pest Control in Greenhouse Crops"
Host: Michael Parrella, professor and chair, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
The seminars are scheduled to be video-recorded and posted on a later date on UCTV in a project coordinated by professor James R. Carey.